Suspect in Bay Area murders said to agree to guilty plea

San Rafael
-
One of three young drifters charged with killing a hiker in Marin County and a backpacker in Golden Gate Park last year has agreed to a plea deal to testify against the other two, officials said Monday.

Sean Michael Angold, 24, who had no known home address, reportedly agreed to testify against the others in exchange for pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the October murders of Steve Carter and Audrey Carey, according to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

Carter, a 57-year-old Yoga teacher, was killed on a hiking trail near Fairfax in Marin County and Carter, a 23-year-old from Quebec on her first solo backpacking trip, was found murdered in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on the second day of a music festival.

Angold and the two other suspects -- Morrison Haze Lampley and Lila Scott Alligood -- were arrested a few days later outside a Portland, Ore., soup kitchen.

Authorities tracked the trio to Oregon using a GPS device in Carter's vehicle, which was allegedly stolen after his murder.

Angold's attorney, Terrence Bennett of Sausalito, Calif., said Bennett had agreed to a “cooperation agreement” and a sentence of 15 years to life in prison that applied only to Carter’s death.

He and the other two suspects face possible life sentences without possibility of parole if convicted of the other slayings.

“There will be no sentencing until the cooperation agreement is fully executed,” Bennett said.

Marin County District Attorney Edward Berberian said he expected Angold to testify aganinst Lampley and Alligood at a preliminary hearing scheduled to begin May 9.

The preliminary hearing determines whether the state had enough evidence to hold the defendants until there is a trial.

“This is something that has been under negotiation for a period of time,” Berberian said.

“Both families of the murder victims were advised of this [and] have been very supportive of us moving forward in the way we need to move forward,” Berberian said.

Carter's widow, Lokita Carter, told the newspaper that the murders were "unbearable and unforgivable" and expressed confidence that "justice will be served to its fullest extent."

Documents in the case indicate that authorities think Lampley shot Carter, but that it was unclear who beat and shot Carey, the newspaper said.

The documents also allege that the three defendants still had the handgun used in the slayings when they were arrested in Oregon, and also had Carey's passport, plane tickets and camping gear.

The gun is believed to have been stolen from a federal agent's car on Oct. 1, the newspaper said.

Alligood's attorney, Amy Morton of Vallejo, Calif., did not respond to requests for comment.

Lampley's attorney, David Brown, a Marin County chief public defender, said his office had not yet been informed about the plea deal.

“We will need to review this new development in Mr. Lampley’s case,” Brown said.

Residents of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood said the three suspects had been camping in nearby Buena Vista Park in the weeks prior to the murders and had a reputation for erratic behavior and methamphetamine use, the newspaper said.

Lampley, who was known by his middle name of Haze, had past convictions for theft and weapon possession, the newspaper said.